Financial demands keep rising at Everton but a new ground still hasn’t been located. Simon Hart looks at a unique set of problems
The Mirror journalist David Maddock is a sympathetic chronicler of the Merseyside football scene but his blog on Everton on January 18 was unfortunate in its timing. With David Moyes’s team underperforming and rumours circulating about the club entering administration, he sought to explain “why Everton’s achievements under Moyes and Kenwright are far more impressive than anything Man City have done” – urging fans to “rejoice in the fact that the club is run prudently with no danger of going bust”.
Read more…
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - Book reviews
Dave Hannigan looks at how Ireland are hoping to attract young footballers with a US education but an old country sentiment
In a little-noticed cameo during the February international break, Derby County striker Conor Doyle made his debut for Ireland Under-21s in a friendly against Cyprus. Born and raised in Texas to a father from Dublin, the 19-year-old’s appearance came just three months after Giovanni Trapattoni expressed interest in establishing a scouting network to find new talent for Ireland in the United States. Indeed, Trapattoni went as far as asking for a full list of Major League Soccer players with Irish-sounding
surnames.
Read more…
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive
The traditional big clubs of Ligue 1 are being challenged by an astutely assembled teams of upstarts. James Eastham explains
The only way you can tell it’s matchday in Lille is by looking at the buses. If there’s a game on, the slogan “Allez Le LOSC” runs where the name of the destination normally is (LOSC being the acronym for Lille Olympique Sporting Club). But wander into any of the city centre bars showing football and you’re likely to find the majority of the locals sampling the beers the region is famous for barely glance up at the screens.
Read more…
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive
Adam Brown looks at how the political interaction of fan culture has developed since the disenfranchisement of the mid-1980s
The year 1985 was a nadir for English football in a decade of great change for football supporters in Britain. And May was the pit of the trough. Supporters were caged in decrepit stadiums and 56 of them died in a fire at Bradford City’s ground on May 11. Violence was rife at home and abroad, policing was brutal and on the same day a 14-year-old was killed during fighting between Leeds and Birmingham fans and police at St Andrew’s. Just over two weeks later, these two factors came together killing 39 and injuring 600 at Heysel.
Read more…
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive
Producing a fanzine in 1986 was engaging in solidarity with a subculture. But, as Tom Davies argues, while the landscape has changed the issues remain the same
Hey, has anyone noticed that some footballers have funny haircuts? Aren’t there are a lot of ugly players in Liverpool’s team? And have you tasted the pies in some away ends? Anyone heard anyone behind them at the match say something particularly stupid or funny lately?
Read more…
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive